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Her Ladyship's Girl
Anwyn Moyle was born at the end of the First World War in a small mining village in Wales. At the age of sixteen, she was sent to London to earn her living, where she found a live-in job as a scullery maid. Her day began at 5 a.m., cleaning grates and lighting fires, then she would scrub floors and polish the house - all for two shillings a week, one of which she had to send home to her mother. Things improved when she secured the position of lady's maid in a house in Belgravia, on five shillings a week. Anwyn was required to be a hairdresser, beautician, confidante and secretary. Reporting directly to the lady of the house, she was expected to cover up her mistress's affairs. Her time as a lady's maid was over when she was caught with a young aristocrat in her room and banished from the house, but Anwyn found further employment in a variety of houses, working above and below stairs. However, she found her niche in the jolly working-class atmosphere of the capital city's pubs. London between the wars and during the Blitz is richly evoked and, despite all her hardships, Anwyn never asks for the readers' sympathy.
300 pages, ebook
First published July 31, 2014
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98 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 20, 2017
I really enjoyed this book, but the 3 stars relates to how much of the memoir was about Welsh history. Not that welsh history isn't interesting because of course it is, but I picked the book up because I wanted an account of a lady's maid and to find out some gossip about upstairs and downstairs in Belgravia. There was plenty of this, and I found it fascinating (although I feel there was a LOT of artistic license given) but there were also massive parts about Anwyn's mining village home that dragged a bit. But overall, readable and enjoyable. Anwyn was a pretty amazing woman!
June 2, 2016
While the first few chapters go along at a 'normal' speed after a while the books just gets faster and faster through time. That said this book was rather enjoyable and i finished it in two sittings.
July 18, 2015
A remarkable story told by Anwyn Moyle about her life as a scullery maid. I read this in two days. I Couldn't put it down. Anwyn told her story of courage,bravery and a little adventure. She was born in my part of the world, so I understood the Welsh bits that were dotted through out this book. A very lovely story. Having read other reviews about whether or not this is a tale of fiction or fact, to me it is irrelevant.It seems to me that it could well be a mix of both but the story was still captivating and very enjoyable.
June 11, 2016
Three and a half stars. The first quarter or so of this book had me wondering if I would finish it, and also wondering if the author was Margaret Powell in disguise, given the same resentment of the people she worked for "not deserving" what they had. The book could have used a good editor, as the description of her childhood in a poverty-stricken mining town of early 20th century Wales is first given in its chronological place, and then for some reason repeated when she is discussing her first job in service, making me fear it was all going to be a long, incoherent ramble. Fortunately for me, it improved when she left that position, but I did wonder how she made the leap from scullery maid to lady's maid. I mean, we are told her version of events, but it didn't ring true, somehow. I would think it would be more natural to progress from parlourmaid to lady's maid, but I could be wrong. Later on we are told she goes back to the kitchen, and to hear her tell it she became a well-trained chef-standard cook. Perhaps she did, but her reliability as a narrator wandered across my mind again and again, given that this is supposedly non-fiction. Would you really pass colcannon cakes--a mixture of mash and greens--as cocktail nibbles at a country house? Even in the shooting season? I was also mildly surprised that with the sprinkling of Welsh words throughout, she would use the Irish term "barmbrack" to describe the cake her mother served to a policeman in her Welsh village. Has she never heard the words "bara brith"? (I have. I've also made it. I'm part Welsh myself.)
Her first employer as lady's maid reminded me strongly of Phryne Fisher, without the fabulous wealth and with Moyle as Dot, the confidential companion. However, I simply can't believe that the footman related the entire family history of Mrs Bouchard from Lady Jane Grey to 1930 in a tense whisper (see chapter 8). From there until the time of her marriage and separation, it was a very good read. After that...well. The "romantic scene" at the end smelled strongly of wish-fulfillment fantasy, and is in part what cost stars, but whatever.
The lack of a good proofreader/editor shows again and again, as the author's use of language is very strange in spots. I can deal with the Welsh words and "old ways prayers" (or at least the author's little poems) scattered throughout, but we are treated to such oddities as, in the debutante ball scene, "They were curtseying to the assembled high-ranking dignitaries who posed like Louis XIV table legs." ??? She speaks of "watching and observing" instead of watching and learning, or paying attention, or anything that makes sense. Or again, she describes nightfall on her first evening in Mrs Bouchard's house as "when it was dark and forsaken outside beneath my window". This sounds more like a badly written Kindle romance, but given that wishfullfilment scene....
However, not too bad for a sleepless night.
Her first employer as lady's maid reminded me strongly of Phryne Fisher, without the fabulous wealth and with Moyle as Dot, the confidential companion. However, I simply can't believe that the footman related the entire family history of Mrs Bouchard from Lady Jane Grey to 1930 in a tense whisper (see chapter 8). From there until the time of her marriage and separation, it was a very good read. After that...well. The "romantic scene" at the end smelled strongly of wish-fulfillment fantasy, and is in part what cost stars, but whatever.
The lack of a good proofreader/editor shows again and again, as the author's use of language is very strange in spots. I can deal with the Welsh words and "old ways prayers" (or at least the author's little poems) scattered throughout, but we are treated to such oddities as, in the debutante ball scene, "They were curtseying to the assembled high-ranking dignitaries who posed like Louis XIV table legs." ??? She speaks of "watching and observing" instead of watching and learning, or paying attention, or anything that makes sense. Or again, she describes nightfall on her first evening in Mrs Bouchard's house as "when it was dark and forsaken outside beneath my window". This sounds more like a badly written Kindle romance, but given that wishfullfilment scene....
However, not too bad for a sleepless night.
May 2, 2015
I've downgraded my review, as on reflection I agree with some other commenters that a lot of this book is fictional.
May 4, 2015
Loved this book. Anwyn was a remarkable woman, and the fact she leaves this book as her legacy makes her story even more poignant. Her children must be bursting with pride .
July 4, 2019
No way is this book a real autobiography. It's not. It's badly-researched historical fiction.
There was nobody in 20th-century Britain entitled to be called 'Lady Miranda Brandon': in fact, there was no titled family surnamed Brandon at all. There was no 'Bolde Hall' in Warwickshire. Okay, a memoirist might want to change the names of people to spare their families distress, but she should warn the reader she had done that.
Tredegar House is real, and it was owned by the Morgan family: but they were nothing like she describes them. The book says that in 1937 the family consisted of the master of the house, a 'Mr Morgan who was an earl or a baron or something', his wife Gwendolen, their plain twin twenty-something daughters, one married with a baby boy, and their 10-year-old son. In reality, the master of the house was Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, a gay Catholic convert, poet and occultist, who was living alone after the break-up of his childless marriage to scandalous hard-drinking Lois Sturt and kept at Tredegar a menagerie of animals and birds, with a 'magik room' dedicated to his study of the occult. I can't believe Moyle ever worked at Tredegar. Either she used the names as a replacement for those of a real house and family, or she just made the whole episode up.
Even as historical fiction, this just doesn't cut it. There is no way that someone trying to find a job for a servant would take her to meet a prospective employer at a party as a guest, wearing a 'silk cocktail dress': if the girl was an appropriate person to mingle with the gentry at the party, she was unthinkably too posh to be a kitchen maid; if she was the kind of person to be a kitchen maid, it would be an outrage to foist her on a genteel hostess as a guest and equal.
Oh yes, and the party couldn't have happened at Llanyrafon Manor in 1936 as stated in the book, because during the entire first half of the 20th century the Manor was used as accommodation for farm labourers. The author has read a current brochure abut the Manor, now restored as a local history centre and has used the phrase that it "has hugged the banks of the Afon Llywd since the mid 1550's" straight from it, but not noticed, or not cared about, this fact. (Or the fact that the well-bred owner-occupiers of manor houses in the 1930s didn't print brochures about the history of their homes, or leave them lying about in their libraries. That only happens in houses open to the public.)
Nor is it credible that a peer's son, a guest at a ball, would ever take a lady's maid on to the dance floor with him - nor that said lady's maid would fail to know that she would inevitably be sacked next day, even if she hadn't proceeded to be found in bed with him. This is an incident from very bad historical fiction.
There was nobody in 20th-century Britain entitled to be called 'Lady Miranda Brandon': in fact, there was no titled family surnamed Brandon at all. There was no 'Bolde Hall' in Warwickshire. Okay, a memoirist might want to change the names of people to spare their families distress, but she should warn the reader she had done that.
Tredegar House is real, and it was owned by the Morgan family: but they were nothing like she describes them. The book says that in 1937 the family consisted of the master of the house, a 'Mr Morgan who was an earl or a baron or something', his wife Gwendolen, their plain twin twenty-something daughters, one married with a baby boy, and their 10-year-old son. In reality, the master of the house was Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, a gay Catholic convert, poet and occultist, who was living alone after the break-up of his childless marriage to scandalous hard-drinking Lois Sturt and kept at Tredegar a menagerie of animals and birds, with a 'magik room' dedicated to his study of the occult. I can't believe Moyle ever worked at Tredegar. Either she used the names as a replacement for those of a real house and family, or she just made the whole episode up.
Even as historical fiction, this just doesn't cut it. There is no way that someone trying to find a job for a servant would take her to meet a prospective employer at a party as a guest, wearing a 'silk cocktail dress': if the girl was an appropriate person to mingle with the gentry at the party, she was unthinkably too posh to be a kitchen maid; if she was the kind of person to be a kitchen maid, it would be an outrage to foist her on a genteel hostess as a guest and equal.
Oh yes, and the party couldn't have happened at Llanyrafon Manor in 1936 as stated in the book, because during the entire first half of the 20th century the Manor was used as accommodation for farm labourers. The author has read a current brochure abut the Manor, now restored as a local history centre and has used the phrase that it "has hugged the banks of the Afon Llywd since the mid 1550's" straight from it, but not noticed, or not cared about, this fact. (Or the fact that the well-bred owner-occupiers of manor houses in the 1930s didn't print brochures about the history of their homes, or leave them lying about in their libraries. That only happens in houses open to the public.)
Nor is it credible that a peer's son, a guest at a ball, would ever take a lady's maid on to the dance floor with him - nor that said lady's maid would fail to know that she would inevitably be sacked next day, even if she hadn't proceeded to be found in bed with him. This is an incident from very bad historical fiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2016
This is a great book, showing not just the hardship of life in service and the bleak life in Wales the maid left. Anwyn was extremely bright and made every use of her opportunities so she rose from scullery maid - the worst job - to lady's maid in one go. She was self-taught in the skills of lady's maid as she had worked in a hat shop and read the women's glossy magazines. She also learned all kinds of cooking and was able to do general housemaid and cook for two eccentric bachelor restaurant owners. That's hilarious.
Anwyn contrasts the countryside life of the rich in the big demesne houses with city life in London, which she preferred. We see that rich men could behave badly with servant women, and only the staff paid the price. Anwyn worked in pubs, and served and cooked pub food during the Second World War. Her marriage wasn't happy, but it left her better off in more than one way, and she became an independent business woman.
This is a refreshingly honest and intelligent memoir full of strength and social consciousness - Anywn's mother who never left Wales, died aged 51. We also see that the Welsh kept the Old Ways alive, with folk legends, songs and poetry. Highly recommended.
Anwyn contrasts the countryside life of the rich in the big demesne houses with city life in London, which she preferred. We see that rich men could behave badly with servant women, and only the staff paid the price. Anwyn worked in pubs, and served and cooked pub food during the Second World War. Her marriage wasn't happy, but it left her better off in more than one way, and she became an independent business woman.
This is a refreshingly honest and intelligent memoir full of strength and social consciousness - Anywn's mother who never left Wales, died aged 51. We also see that the Welsh kept the Old Ways alive, with folk legends, songs and poetry. Highly recommended.
January 25, 2021
There are so many authors who are overhyped and who write mediocre fare which people lap up and then there are rare gems like Anwyn Moyle (and co-author John F. McDonald), who no one has heard of, but who has written such a delightful book based on her experiences in ‘service’ and subsequently her life.
Despite facing a lot of unimaginable hardships, Anwyn retains a positive outlook on life and also has a wonderful sense of humour. She has written so well that I could feel for her, esp. her distress with her husband. It was heartening to read how she made a successful business of the work that she learnt during her years in service. It brought 2 quotes to mind: a) No work is small or big; it is you who can make it big if you want and b) Whatever skills you learn in life are never wasted.
It was also entertaining to read about the oddities of her employers. The publishers / co-author should have elaborated on how they came upon Anwyn’s story, whether the book was deliberately published after her death and whether the names of the characters have been retained or changed. Most of all, a photo of Anwyn Moyle should have been included in this book.
I’m glad to have discovered this book at a book fair and I would highly recommend everyone to read it.
Despite facing a lot of unimaginable hardships, Anwyn retains a positive outlook on life and also has a wonderful sense of humour. She has written so well that I could feel for her, esp. her distress with her husband. It was heartening to read how she made a successful business of the work that she learnt during her years in service. It brought 2 quotes to mind: a) No work is small or big; it is you who can make it big if you want and b) Whatever skills you learn in life are never wasted.
It was also entertaining to read about the oddities of her employers. The publishers / co-author should have elaborated on how they came upon Anwyn’s story, whether the book was deliberately published after her death and whether the names of the characters have been retained or changed. Most of all, a photo of Anwyn Moyle should have been included in this book.
I’m glad to have discovered this book at a book fair and I would highly recommend everyone to read it.
July 18, 2018
[Audiobook version]
I would have liked more depth and detail to this! Because Anwyn held so many positions within a relatively short space of time (scullery maid → lady's maid → kitchen maid → bar maid → kitchen maid again → bar maid again → launderette owner) we only got a brief overview of the places and people she worked with.
I found the later sections with her husband more interesting, although it was painfully obvious that he was No Good from the moment his character was introduced. Obviously this was written with the benefit of hindsight, but it makes Anwyn look like an idiot for agreeing to marry him. However, I did love the scene where she takes the kids and absconds to Wales, only to be pursued by her irate husband with a bobby in tow. The description of Anwyn's mother topping up the copper's tea and sliding another slice of bara brith onto his plate had me in stitches. (And, spoiler alert, the policeman ends up firmly on Anwyn's side -- although this may be because Anwyn's husband hadn't given the police the full story.)
P.S. Nearly gave up on this after a few tracks because the narrator had THE WORST Welsh accent I have ever heard in my LIFE.
I would have liked more depth and detail to this! Because Anwyn held so many positions within a relatively short space of time (scullery maid → lady's maid → kitchen maid → bar maid → kitchen maid again → bar maid again → launderette owner) we only got a brief overview of the places and people she worked with.
I found the later sections with her husband more interesting, although it was painfully obvious that he was No Good from the moment his character was introduced. Obviously this was written with the benefit of hindsight, but it makes Anwyn look like an idiot for agreeing to marry him. However, I did love the scene where she takes the kids and absconds to Wales, only to be pursued by her irate husband with a bobby in tow. The description of Anwyn's mother topping up the copper's tea and sliding another slice of bara brith onto his plate had me in stitches. (And, spoiler alert, the policeman ends up firmly on Anwyn's side -- although this may be because Anwyn's husband hadn't given the police the full story.)
P.S. Nearly gave up on this after a few tracks because the narrator had THE WORST Welsh accent I have ever heard in my LIFE.
July 18, 2018
I started this book sceptical about how much I would like it. I have to say it was an excellent read, Anwyn had an interesting life and her authentic and personal writing style very much added to the story.
I felt it flowed nicely and gave an insight into this period of change without getting into the knitty gritty. I did read a review saying it chopped and changed with her family in Wales too much, but for me it was written logically and in sequence.
I felt it flowed nicely and gave an insight into this period of change without getting into the knitty gritty. I did read a review saying it chopped and changed with her family in Wales too much, but for me it was written logically and in sequence.
June 28, 2023
This story reads like a fictional account but it is declared to have been the true memoirs of the Welsh authoress Anwyn Moyle. It is riveting and I literally could not put it down but had to sleep (!). Three hundred pages in length and I got through 200 in one big bite. Ms. Moyle's powers of description belie her background so she must have furthered her education. Impressive and it offers a keyhole view of life in service in the mid-1930's.
September 26, 2021
An auto biography of a young Welsh girl born in a South Wales mining village who overcomes many obstacles to become a business woman owning a chain of launderettes in London.
With perseverance & determination she steadily works her way out of prejudice & entrapment to independence. An easy to read autobiography. Anwyn Moyle lives from 1918-2013.
With perseverance & determination she steadily works her way out of prejudice & entrapment to independence. An easy to read autobiography. Anwyn Moyle lives from 1918-2013.
March 12, 2018
It's always interesting to get a peep into bygone worlds. She's probably a person I wouldn't have liked, and she seemed to turn into a very different person from the girl she had been. But that's why I like this kind of book - you find out what makes people and what it was like in the past.
June 7, 2018
3.5 stars.
November 2, 2018
Good Book, Borrowed from a friend, enjoyed it. Some parts more than others, but would recommend.
April 3, 2020
Brilliant insight into the life of a London Maid!
May 30, 2024
Really found it hard to read this book, it was a struggle. Found it long winded and repetitive
October 28, 2025
She can write! I found this book completely randomly and I’m so glad I did. I enjoyed it very much. She’s badass. I love learning about history through real stories.
December 6, 2019
Interesting in parts but totally implausible. I'm a bit embarrassed that I got this as a reading group set from the library for our book club. I can't imagine that it will prove a popular choice!
February 25, 2017
Lovely read, even made me laugh out loud several times !!
December 20, 2016
I read this book in one gulp (off sick one day). It was such a treat. Fascinating details about real life 'below stairs' in the 1930s. Also, a rare, honest voice from a woman who had a great sense of self despite her status as a servant.
September 7, 2021
When I bought this it was called The Skivvy.
June 4, 2015
Really enjoyed this story.
September 13, 2015
Loved this book, definitely one for my top ten!
June 9, 2016
A really interesting read.
November 15, 2022
Was okay, not as good as I had hoped
April 27, 2017
I quite enjoyed this book. This is the type of autobiography that I am more attracted to, as it was about themes I was already interested in, and it was told in a really nice, simple manner, and for the most part I thought the author did not steer away from the stories that are interesting for the main audience to read about.
I liked the fact it portrayed a real life, in the sense, it followed through most of the life of Anwyn, and showed that there are ups and downs and the ups were not cheesily glorified and the downs were not depicted as a pretentious horror / sob story... but how someone would actually live through them. Ups and downs last for a shorter/longer period... and if you get down, you try to get up, simple as that.
The only issue I had was the big amount of songs (poems?) wrote in the book, because... I am going to be honest, I usually care for poetry only when it is written in my mother tongue, and even in that case, I am picky about my poetry. Also, I do not know too much about Wales (except I recognize some town names because I work at a place where I meet them day by day), so some of the Welsh language tidbits and the descriptions of the towns were not saying too much to me... and they were presented as kind of like self-explanatory things (probably because it was the author's reality and guaranteed things that did not need explanation in her world).
I liked the fact it portrayed a real life, in the sense, it followed through most of the life of Anwyn, and showed that there are ups and downs and the ups were not cheesily glorified and the downs were not depicted as a pretentious horror / sob story... but how someone would actually live through them. Ups and downs last for a shorter/longer period... and if you get down, you try to get up, simple as that.
The only issue I had was the big amount of songs (poems?) wrote in the book, because... I am going to be honest, I usually care for poetry only when it is written in my mother tongue, and even in that case, I am picky about my poetry. Also, I do not know too much about Wales (except I recognize some town names because I work at a place where I meet them day by day), so some of the Welsh language tidbits and the descriptions of the towns were not saying too much to me... and they were presented as kind of like self-explanatory things (probably because it was the author's reality and guaranteed things that did not need explanation in her world).
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews